The Lubavitcher rebbe has returned home.
Twelve days after he underwent emergency surgery to remove a gangrenous gallbladder, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson was released from New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital 3 p.m. Tuesday. About 45 minutes later, he reached his home in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, which also serves as the headquarters of the international Lubavitch movement.
He is once again comfortably ensconced in his office, which has been turned into the equivalent of an intensive care unit since his stroke four months ago.
The rebbe recovered from the gallbladder surgery “like a young man,” according to Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, his spokesman, but is still feeling the effects of the stroke.
But his speech and mobility remain impaired, said Krinsky, though they have improved since the stroke, thanks to speech and physical therapy.
Doctors have made no prediction of how long it will take for the rebbe to fully recuperate from the stroke. “We’re going to have to be patient,” said Krinsky.
As they had done since he was hospitalized on June 18, hundreds of the rebbe’s followers gathered Monday at Mount Sinai Hospital.
Monday’s gathering was held to celebrate the 51st anniversary of his arrival in the United States, to pray for his complete recovery and to express gratitude to the hospital staff.
“They made it possible for the Hasidim to spend time near the rebbe,” said Krinsky. “The care was exceptional.”
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